Listening serves many purposes, and different situations require different types of

listening. The type of listening we engage in affects our communication and how others
respond to us. For example, when we listen to empathize with others, our
communication will likely be supportive and open, which will then lead the other person
to feel “heard” and supported and hopefully view the interaction positively.1 The main
types of listening we will discuss are discriminative, informational, critical,
empathetic2 and appreciative.

Discriminative Listening
Discriminative listening, is a focused and usually instrumental type of
listening that is primarily physiological and occurs mostly at the receiving
stage of the listening process.3 It is sometimes referred to as listening for
discernment because it involves listening for specific sounds.  Here we engage
in listening to scan and monitor our surroundings in order to isolate particular
stimuli. For example, we may focus our listening on a dark part of the yard
while walking the dog at night to determine if the noise we just heard
presents us with any danger. In the absence of a hearing impairment, we
have an innate and physiological ability to engage in discriminative listening.
Although this is the most basic form of listening, it provides the foundation on
which more intentional listening skills are built. This type of listening can be
refined and honed. Think of how musicians, singers, and mechanics exercise
specialized discriminative listening to isolate sounds.  Even parents can hear
the sound of their own baby’s cry and distinguish it from any other child.

Informational Listening
Informational listening entails listening with the goal of comprehending
and retaining information. This type of listening is not evaluative and is
common in teaching and learning contexts ranging from a student listening to
an informative speech to an out-of-towner listening to directions to the
nearest gas station. We also use informational listening when we listen to
news reports, voice mail, and briefings at work. Since retention and recall are
important components of informational listening, good concentration and
memory skills are key. These also happen to be skills that many college
students struggle with, at least in the first years of college, but will be
expected to have mastered once they get into professional contexts. In many
professional contexts, informational listening is important, especially when
receiving instructions. I caution my students that they will be expected to
process verbal instructions more frequently in their profession than they are in
college. Most college professors provide detailed instructions and handouts
with assignments so students can review them as needed, but many
supervisors and managers will expect you to take the initiative to remember
or record vital information. Additionally, many bosses are not as open to
questions or requests to repeat themselves as professors are.

Critical Listening
Critical listening8 entails listening with the goal of analyzing or evaluating a
message based on information presented verbally and information that can be
inferred from context. A critical listener evaluates a message and accepts it,
rejects it, or decides to withhold judgment and seek more information. As
constant consumers of messages, we need to be able to assess the credibility
of speakers and their messages and identify various persuasive appeals and
faulty logic (known as fallacies). Critical listening is important during
persuasive exchanges, but I recommend always employing some degree of
critical listening, because you may find yourself in a persuasive interaction
that you thought was informative.  For example, critical listening skills are
useful when listening to a political speech, being on a jury, and when
processing any of the persuasive media messages we receive daily. You can
see judges employ critical listening, with varying degrees of competence, on
talent competition shows like Rupaul’s Drag Race, America’s Got Talent,
and The Voice. While the exchanges between judge and contestant on these
shows is expected to be subjective and critical, critical listening is also
important when listening to other speakers that have stated or implied
objectivity, such as parents, teachers, doctors, and religious leaders. Given
the number of instances in which you listen critically, it is clear that there is
often a high level of analysis in your listening so that you can make informed
decisions.

Empathetic Listening
Empathetic listening is the most challenging form of listening and occurs
when we try to understand or experience what a speaker is thinking or
feeling. Empathetic listening is distinct from sympathetic listening. While the
word empathy  means to “feel into” or “feel with” another
person, sympathy  means to “feel for” someone. Sympathy is generally more
self-oriented and distant than empathy.4 Empathetic listening is other
oriented and should be genuine. Because of our own centrality in our
perceptual world, empathetic listening can be difficult. It’s often much easier
for us to tell our own story or to give advice than it is to really listen to and
empathize with someone else. We should keep in mind that sometimes others
just need to be heard and our feedback isn’t actually desired.

Empathetic listening is key for dialogue and helps maintain interpersonal

relationships. In order to reach dialogue, people must have a degree of open-
mindedness and a commitment to civility that allows them to be empathetic
while still allowing them to believe in and advocate for their own position.
Empathetic listening focuses on offering support to another individual without
judgment, therefore it is not only one of the most important listening skills
you can have, but one of the most difficult to achieve.

Appreciative Listening
Finally, as communicators we often engage in appreciative listening.  It is
easy to understand that listening to music, watching a movie, or going to a
theatre would allow us to simply listen for enjoyment.  We can also engage in
conversations with friends or others that have no purpose other than
enjoyment.  Think about a time when a friend told you a funny story, or you
just got together to talk about what is happening in each other’s lives.  You
may even have a college professor that you find entertaining!  Appreciative
listening is the easiest type of listening because you do not have to
necessarily engage in analysis.

Although we can engage in each of these listening types independently, you

will find that you can will use more than one type at the same time.  If you
are in a college class, you will most definitely need to focus on informational
listening, but if your instructor is telling a story, you may also be listening
appreciatively.

Listening Styles
Just as there are different types of listening, there are also different styles  of
listening. People may be categorized as one or more of the following
listeners: people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, and
time-oriented listeners. Research finds that 40 percent of people have
more than one preferred listening style, and that they choose a style based on
the listening situation.5 Other research finds that people often still revert back
to a single preferred style in times of emotional or cognitive stress, even if
they know a different style of listening would be better.6 Following a brief
overview of each listening style, we will explore some of their applications,
strengths, and weaknesses.

 People-oriented listeners are concerned about the needs and

feelings of others and may get distracted from a specific task or the
content of a message in order to address feelings.
 Action-oriented listeners prefer well-organized, precise, and
accurate information. They can become frustrated with they perceive
communication to be unorganized or inconsistent, or a speaker to be
“long-winded.”
 Content-oriented listeners are analytic and enjoy processing
complex messages. They like in-depth information and like to learn
about multiple sides of a topic or hear multiple perspectives on an issue.
Their thoroughness can be difficult to manage if there are time
constraints.
 Time-oriented listeners are concerned with completing tasks and
achieving goals. They do not like information perceived as irrelevant
and like to stick to a timeline. They may cut people off and make quick
decisions (taking short cuts or cutting corners) when they think they
have enough information.

People-Oriented Listeners

People-oriented listeners7 are concerned about the emotional states of

others and listen with the purpose of offering support in interpersonal
relationships. People-oriented listeners can be characterized as “supporters”
who are caring and understanding. These listeners are sought out because
they are known as people who will “lend an ear.” They may or may not be
valued for the advice they give, but all people often want is a good listener.
This type of listening may be especially valuable in interpersonal
communication involving emotional exchanges, as a person-oriented listener
can create a space where people can make themselves vulnerable without
fear of being cut off or judged. People-oriented listeners are likely skilled
empathetic listeners and may find success in supportive fields like counseling,
social work, or nursing. Interestingly, such fields are typically feminized, in
that people often associate the characteristics of people-oriented listeners
with roles filled by women. 
Action-Oriented Listeners

Action-oriented listeners8 focus on what action needs to take place in

regards to a received message and try to formulate an organized way to
initiate that action. These listeners are frustrated by disorganization, because
it detracts from the possibility of actually doing something. Action-oriented
listeners can be thought of as “builders”—like an engineer, a construction site
foreperson, or a skilled project manager. This style of listening can be very
effective when a task needs to be completed under time, budgetary, or other
logistical constraints. One research study found that people prefer an action-
oriented style of listening in instructional contexts. 9 In other situations, such
as interpersonal communication, action-oriented listeners may not actually be
very interested in listening, instead taking a “What do you want me to do?”
approach. A friend and colleague of mine who exhibits some qualities of an
action-oriented listener once told me about an encounter she had with a close
friend who had a stillborn baby. My friend said she immediately went into
“action mode.” Although it was difficult for her to connect with her friend at
an emotional/ empathetic level, she was able to use her action-oriented
approach to help out in other ways as she helped make funeral arrangements,
coordinated with other family and friends, and handled the details that
accompanied this tragic emotional experience. As you can see from this
example, the action-oriented listening style often contrasts with the people-
oriented listening style.

Content-Oriented Listeners

Content-oriented listeners like to listen to complex information and

evaluate the content of a message, often from multiple perspectives, before
drawing conclusions. These listeners can be thought of as “learners,” and they
also ask questions to solicit more information to fill out their understanding of
an issue. Content-oriented listeners often enjoy high perceived credibility
because of their thorough, balanced, and objective approach to engaging with
information. Content- oriented listeners are likely skilled informational and
critical listeners and may find success in academic careers in the humanities,
social sciences, or sciences. Ideally, judges and politicians would also possess
these characteristics.

Time-Oriented Listeners
Time-oriented listeners13 are more concerned about time limits and
timelines than they are with the content or senders of a message. These
listeners can be thought of as “executives,” and they tend to actually verbalize
the time constraints under which they are operating.

For example, a time-oriented supervisor may say the following to an

employee who has just entered his office and asked to talk: “Sure, I can talk,
but I only have about five minutes.” These listeners may also exhibit
nonverbal cues that indicate time and/or attention shortages, such as looking
at a clock, avoiding eye contact, or nonverbally trying to close down an
interaction. Time-oriented listeners are also more likely to interrupt others,
which may make them seem insensitive to emotional/personal needs. People
often get action-oriented and time-oriented listeners confused. Action-
oriented listeners would be happy to get to a conclusion or decision quickly if
they perceive that they are acting on well-organized and accurate information.
They would, however, not mind taking longer to reach a conclusion when
dealing with a complex topic, and they would delay making a decision if the
information presented to them didn’t meet their standards of organization.
Unlike time-oriented listeners, action-oriented listeners are not as likely to cut
people off (especially if people are presenting relevant information) and are
not as likely to take short cuts.

Key Takeaways
 Getting integrated: Listening is a learned process and skill that we can
improve on with concerted effort. Improving our listening skills can
benefit us in academic, professional, personal, and civic contexts.
 Listening is the process of receiving, interpreting, recalling, evaluating,
and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages. In the receiving
stage, we select and attend to various stimuli based on salience. We
then interpret auditory and visual stimuli in order to make meaning out
of them based on our existing schemata. Short-term and long-term
memory store stimuli until they are discarded or processed for later
recall. We then evaluate the credibility, completeness, and worth of a
message before responding with verbal and nonverbal signals.
 Discriminative listening is the most basic form of listening, and we use it
to distinguish between and focus on specific sounds. We use
informational listening to try to comprehend and retain information.
Through critical listening, we analyze and evaluate messages at various
 levels. We use empathetic listening to try to understand or experience
what a speaker is feeling.  Appreciative listening is the easiest type of
listening as we use it to experience pleasure.
 People-oriented listeners are concerned with others’ needs and feelings,
which may distract from a task or the content of a message. Action-
oriented listeners prefer listening to well-organized and precise
information and are more concerned about solving an issue than they
are about supporting the speaker. Content-oriented listeners enjoy
processing complicated information and are typically viewed as credible
because they view an issue from multiple perspectives before making a
decision. Although content-oriented listeners may not be very effective
in situations with time constraints, time-oriented listeners are fixated on
time limits and listen in limited segments regardless of the complexity of
the information or the emotions involved, which can make them appear
cold and distant to some.

Exercises
1. The recalling stage of the listening process is a place where many
people experience difficulties. What techniques do you use or could you
use to improve your recall of certain information such as people’s
names, key concepts from your classes, or instructions or directions
given verbally?
2. Getting integrated: Identify how critical listening might be useful for you
in each of the following contexts: academic, professional, personal, and
civic.
3. Listening scholars have noted that empathetic listening is the most
difficult type of listening. Do you agree? Why or why not?
4. Which style of listening best describes you and why? Which style do you
have the most difficulty with or like the least and why?